Leeches
by othersideofthemirror
Summary: "We don't have much time so I'll make this fast. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and you need to forget EVERYTHING you think you know about vampires. These leeches don't sparkle or brood and they sure as hell won't climb a damn tree with you..These things are nature's tanks, the top predators."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: nothing is mine**

**Leeches**

**Chapter one**

* * *

_The webcam flickered into life, focusing in on a haggard looking young man sitting behind the expensive looking desk. The man had untamed blonde hair, three asymmetrical scars on each cheek and ice-chip blue eyes._

_The muffled sound of pounding and cat like hissing filters into the room through the thick door. An agonized scream rings out and the blonde man jumps visibly._

"_Oh God, Neji" someone begins to cry in dry racking sobs._

_The blonde man collects himself and looks off-screen:_

"_How much time we got Kiba?" he asks gruffly._

_A voice answers unintelligibly but the man nods anyway._

"_Okay," he rests his forearms on the desk and leans forward, eyes boring into the camera, "We don't have much time so I'll make this fast. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and you need to forget EVERYTHING you think you know about vampires. These leeches don't sparkle or brood and they sure as hell won't climb a damn tree with you. That's all crap, same with a lot of the 'defensive' measures. Silver won't save you, garlic just pisses them off, and a cross is only a fifty-fifty shot to keep you from becoming a parasite's juice pouch. These things are nature's tanks, the top predators. Unless you can sever the connection with the brain or destroy the heart beyond repair, they're gonna keep getting up and trying to floss with your veins._

_See, my uncle was an occult scholar, specializing in uh, what's it called? Vampire lore, I guess. Whenever one of those 'ghost town' stories popped up (and they pop up a lot more than you think) where an entire town disappears practically overnight, he'd always drag me out there with him to investigate. And back then, I thought he was just as crazy as you probably think I am right about now. But then…well, my town began to pull a 'Salems Lot…"_

* * *

"_Well I'm not a vampire__  
__But I feel like one__  
__Sometimes I sleep all day__  
__Because I hate the sunlight__  
__My hands are always shaking__  
__Body's always aching__  
__And the dark is when I feed"_

A tan hand shot out from underneath the cocoon of orange blankets and began to scramble around his headboard, trying to locate the phone that was disrupting his valuable sleep time. Finally he found it, turned it to silent, and threw it blindly across the room. There was a peaceful sigh from the mass of blankets as the room descended into silence once again. But the silence didn't last long, five minutes later the door was opened by a man with vivid red hair and thick black framed glasses.

"Naruto," he called, leaning against the doorframe.

No response from the mass of blankets

"Naruto" he tried again.

More silence.

With a sigh the man walked over to the bed and pulled the entire cocoon onto the floor with one strong yank.

"WAAH, What the hell!" the recently displaced teen shot upright and looked around frantically. When he saw the smile on his uncle's face, he scowled.

"What was that for Uncle Kyu?" he pouted, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Oh, just thought I should let you know you're twenty minutes late to school" he smiled innocently.

There was a brief silence while Naruto digested this, and then—

"WAAH, I gotta go, I gotta go!" he bounced to his feet and ran out of his bedroom, stopping only to grab his battered messenger bag from its spot by the door.

Ten minutes later Naruto was really regretting his decision not to get anything to eat or changing into warmer clothes for that matter. October really wasn't the time of year to only be wearing a pair of pajama pants and a wife beater.

"_Not that I don't look good"_ he smirked and looked at his reflection in the plate window of the store he was passing. _'Hey that's weird I thought this store was abandoned'_

For as long as he could remember the windows had been dusty and the door chained shut. Now though the windows were sparkling clean and inviting, despite the dark curtains that were pulled shut behind them. The door had been unchained, cleaned, and a small placard with the word Akatsuki written on it was stuck to the middle of it.

'_Akatsuki, huh?_' he inspected the store front a little more, trying to find any indication of what the store might sell. Finding none, he glanced around and then shrugged, _' well, I'm already late another ten minutes isn't gonna kill me.'_ With that in mind he pulled open the door and stepped inside.

The first thing that Naruto thought was that Akatsuki was some kind of used book store. It was barely lit by soft yellow lights and three of the four walls were covered in bookshelves that went from floor-to-ceiling. Small display cases littered the room and were filled with old books, some of them so old that they would probably turn to dust if you handled them wrong. The fourth wall however threw him for a loop. It looked like an occult junk store shoved into one bookshelf. Tarot cards, Ouija boards, shrunken heads, amulets, talismans, gemstones, and things that Naruto didn't even recognize mingled and were crammed together.

'_Christ, Uncle Kyu would wet his pants in here'_

He walked up to the wall and fingered a small amber talisman hanging there. It was almost hypnotizing; there was a small red shape that looked almost like an eye in there. And when you twisted the talisman the eye almost seemed to follow you.

"Can I help you?" a soft deep voice asked suddenly, inches away from Naruto's ear.

**A/N: just a small chapter to see how this story would go over. if you review the story shall continue, if not…well, I'll take it down I suppose.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Othersideofthemirror.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: nothing is mine**

**Leeches**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

"WAAH!" Naruto spun around, eyes wide and hand clutching at his chest. Standing less than a foot from him was a tall man with spiky orange hair and a veritable shit-ton of piercings.

"Jesus man you scared the hell outta me" the blonde panted.

"Can I help you with anything?" the man asked again, quirking his eyebrow.

"Um, yeah, yeah," Naruto looked around mind working quickly, "My uncle loves this kind of stuff; do you have any old books about the occult?"

"One second, I think I have the perfect thing" the older boy said softly. He stepped into a back room that was cut off from the rest of the store by a black curtain that brushed the floor. He returned several minutes later with an old book clutched carefully in his red-nailed hands.

"This is an 18th century copy of _The Agrippa_. Completely original, in French and everything."

"Oh my god, uncle Kyu's been looking for a copy of this. How much?"

The orange haired man appraised him with steel grey eyes, "Normally I wouldn't be able to let this go for under a grand, minimum"

Naruto felt his heart sink, there was no way, _absolutely_ no way he could afford that.

"But," the man continued, "You are the shops first customer so I could let it go for half that, provided you tell people that we're open now."

The blonde's jaw dropped, "Are you serious?" he asked breathlessly. This guy had to be messing with him; no one with half a brain would let that book out for five hundred, no one.

The man smiled slightly, the tip of a sharp tooth barely visible, "Yes I am serious."

"Awesome!" Naruto dug his wallet out of his messenger bag and quickly riffled through the bills. It was a good thing he had been saving all his paychecks from Ichiraku…but still it almost bled him dry. He handed over the money and then carefully tucked the book away.

"I'm Naruto by the way" he stuck out a hand.

After a moment the man grasped it and gave it a strong shake, "I'm Pein"

* * *

Twenty minutes later he collapsed in his second block desk next to Kiba.

"Where the hell ya been man?" the brunette asked.

"I was checking out that new store, Akatsuki."

"New store?"

"Yeah, it's in that old abandoned place on Main. I was the first customer apparently"

Kiba leaned forward, interested, "Oh yeah? What's it sell? Sounds kinda like a music shop or something"

"Eh," Naruto screwed up his face and tried to think of how to describe it. After several seconds of deliberation he decided to go with, "It's the type of store Uncle Kyu would totally get off on"

"Oh" Kiba nodded knowingly and leaned his chair back on two legs.

"Hey where's Sasuke?" The cerulean eyed boy asked, glancing around the room.

The brunette teen shrugged nonchalantly, "Dunno, maybe he bailed today. Wouldn't be the first time."

"Yeah, probably. Bastard didn't even ask if we wanted to go with" Naruto chuckled and settled back in his chair, content to daydream for the next hour and a half as Mrs. Yuki lectured about the American Revolution.

* * *

"Why did you bring me out here Kakashi?"

Kyuubi adjusted his glasses and cast an inquisitive look at the closed door in front of him. He had gotten a call five minutes after Naruto left from his old friend Kakashi, who was now working with the police. Kakashi had asked if he would help with an investigation and would say nothing more. The redhead head had agreed and twenty minutes later they were standing by the front door of the Uchiha mansion which had been corded off with police tape.

Kakashi looked distinctly uncomfortable, "Well Kyu-chan you were the only person I could think of who has any knowledge about this kind of stuff."

"This kind of stuff?"

"Yeah…" the silver haired man trailed off, looking extremely uncomfortable now.

"What happened Kakashi?" Kyuubi pressed, concern rising in his chest.

Kakashi took a deep breath and then said in a rush, "All the Uchiha were killed in a ritualistic fashion at some time last night. Their bodies were eviscerated and drained of blood."

"That's horrible" Kyuubi breathed. Feeling week-kneed he sat down on the marble steps that led up to the door. With shaking hands he fished a cigarette from a cardigan pocket; he lit it and took a deep, steadying drag.

"There were some symbols we couldn't identify drawn on the walls. We were hoping you could."

"Yeah. Yeah" Kyuubi muttered absently. God, all the Uchiha. Poor Mikoto, poor Fukagu, poor Sasuke. Oh no Sasuke! Naruto was going to be crushed.

"Is Sasuke…is he—"

"Dead? No, we think he's missing. We can't find any trace of him at any rate."

"oh" A minute passed with Kyuubi smoking in silence, feeling numb. He had never been particularly close with any of the Uchiha but the idea that something like _this_ could happen was terrifying. Who would do something like this? You would have to be a psychopath, a monster. And how did they do it? The Uchiha were not a small family, to do this to all of them without the cops being called was well, astonishing.

"Do you think you could take a look at these now?" Kakashi asked.

"Sure" Kyuubi said shakily, climbing to his feet.

Kakashi opened the door and Kyuubi followed him through the large foyer. It looked like the police had already dealt with all the evidence and disposed of all the corpses. The redhead found himself wondering why Kakashi didn't just give him pictures of whatever he wanted to show him.

"It's in here" Kakashi said, stopping at the closed door or the master bedroom. He pushed it open with one quick motion and stepped back, almost as if he didn't want to be anywhere near. Kyuubi didn't blame him, something in the air seemed…off. He wasn't sure how to describe the feeling, it was an off-kilter kind of feel, coupled with the spine tingling fear you felt when you thought something was watching you from the dark. Thankfully Kyuubi didn't have to step fully inside the room to see the symbol. Drawn in dried red-brown blood directly above the bed was a mass of spikes and tentacles all condensed into one mass. He stared at it for a moment before recognition clicked into place.

"Kakashi, that's an ancient symbol for vampire."

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are very motivational. Updates certainly would come faster if I got more reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything**

**Leeches: Chapter 3**

* * *

Pein stared thoughtfully at the door the blonde boy had left through and picked at his teeth with a red nail.

'_His uncle…is into the occult?...that could be problematic…if he were to figure o-'_

His cell phone uttered a shrill chirp and interrupted his thoughts. He glanced at the caller id and a smile crossed his pierced face.

"Hello Master" the orange haired man absently pulled on an earring, a nervous habit that had lasted decades.

"Ah hello Pein, my boy. How goes the conquest?" His master's rich, smooth voice rolled through the phone.

"It goes well Master. And a…very willing local helped me make the preparations if you were to come and visit."

"Don't be silly. I gifted that town to you; it is yours to play with," Master paused and chuckled darkly, his voice became serious and cold "I have placed a great amount of trust in you. You are only the second of my Children to be graced with this honor. If my trust was to be…_misplaced_…I would be most unhappy."

"Don't worry Master" Pein said, willing his voice not to betray how nervous he felt.

Master's voice became light again, and Pein relaxed slightly

"I'm not worried, not at all. But if I had to come to that God forsaken town to do damage control like I had to do with Orochimaru… Well, I would be forced to do to you what you did to Hanzo."

Pein paled, his piercings standing out in stark contrast with his snow-white skin. He forced his voice to come out steady,

"Do not worry Master all will be well."

"Good, good. Now my boy you must excuse me. My afternoon meal has arrived."

Master hung up without ceremony and Pein was left in his darkening shop, cell phone clutched in one slack hand. His mind whirled, he had preparations to make. If he was to take this town he had to begin tonight.

* * *

"_Please don't let me fall asleep_

_Cuz the Boogie Man will creep_

_Through my window in my room…"_

"Turn that Juggalo shit off."

Naruto reached over and snapped the car's stereo off.

"Fuck you. You're in my car so we listen to my music."

Utakata flicked his chin length fringe of hair out of his left eye, snapped the radio back on and turned it up louder just to annoy his passenger.

"It's puff, puff, pass Naruto, not puff, puff, smoke all my fucking weed."

The high school senior leaned forward and plucked the blunt from Naruto's fingers. Bloodshot blue eyes blinked blearily.

"Hey give that back," Naruto shook his head slowly and laughed, "God, my voice sounds weird."

"I could shotgun it to you" Utakata wiggled his visible eyebrow suggestively and the younger boy turned tomato red.

"Dude, stop that. I told you I don't swing that way." the words came out mumbled and slow.

The brunette laughed, "God, you're so cute when your face goes all red like that"

Naruto grumbled and then changed the subject, "so who did you get this from? It's pretty flame."

Utakata screwed up his face in thought, "New dude at the party last night. Weird guy, green hair, half his body painted black, sharpened teeth, two voices…seemed batshit."

"What was his name?"

The older boy giggled, "dunno. He reeked like bud, was high as fuck, and had a gallon bag of this shit in his sweatpants. I just called him the Walking Weedplant."

Naruto burst out laughing. When he had quieted down Utakata put the car in drive.

"Munchies?" he asked

Naruto dug his remaining cash from his wallet, "Hell yeah!"

* * *

When Naruto entered his house several hours later (still cradling a bag of Doritos like a baby) Kyuubi was waiting for him. Since he knew that Uncle Kyu didn't care if he smoked he simply held out the bag of Doritos in a silent offering.

"Naruto we gotta talk" Uncle Kyu led them into the living room and sat down on the couch, stubbing out his smoldering cigarette butt in the overflowing ashtray.

"'kay…say can I get one of those?" he gestured vaguely to the pack of American Spirits and plopped down onto the opposite couch. Kyuubi ran a hand over his face, gave a shuttering sigh, and gestured in a rather open-ended answer. Assuming this weird hand flap meant yes the blonde leaned forward, slid a cigarette from the box, placed it between his lips, and lit it.

"Oh!," Naruto carefully dug the copy of _The Agrippa _from his bag and placed it on the table, "I got you something."

Uncle Kyu didn't even spare it a glance and Naruto stuck his bottom lip out slightly in a silent pout.

"Naruto," Uncle Kyu sighed heavily again, "something really bad happened today, well actually it happened yesterday but I found out today." He paused and seemed to struggle with finding the right words, "I don't really know how to tell you in a way that won't hurt like hell so I'm just gonna tell you. The Uchiha are dead, someone killed them. Sasuke is missing."

The half-smoked cigarette fell from Naruto's suddenly numb fingers.

* * *

Night swallowed the town. Naruto grieved for the loss of his friend and slowly drank his way towards a blackout. Kyuubi poured over his books, searching for anything pertaining to vampires or rituals that were associated with them. Dark shadows moved from house to house, knocking at doors and windows, asking to be let in.

Hana Inuzuka stepped aside to allow a handsome, if vulgar, silver haired man to enter her home. She found that she couldn't stop looking into his eyes, which were a stunning amethyst.

Kankuro Sabaku passed a man lying on the side of the road on his way home for work. The man was heavily scarred and looked as if he was held together with thick stitches. He stopped to help, not noticing how the man's lips (which were also stitched) twitched upward into a dark smirk.

A brunette girl who went by TenTen answered the door to her apartment and was viciously pulled across the threshold by a giant so pale that he appeared blue.

A rave was in full swing in the train yard. An androgynous blonde moved through the pulsing lights and writhing bodies, his chin smeared with blood.

_"Listen to them, children of the night, what music they make..."_

_"Paint your face, tonight we terrorize this town__  
__Coffin case, we gather, our time is now__  
__10/31 we roam the streets in thirst for blood__  
__It all begins all begins with you, with your life_

_10/31 we roam the streets in thirst for blood__  
__Sleep all day party all night, never grow old, never die__  
__It's fun to be a vampire"_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!**

**hey guys, or whoever (if anyone) is reading this sorry I haven't posted in a while. writers block, ya know? Anyway reviews would be super killer.**

**later**


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